Jennifer Batten, Ph.D. Department Head of Physical Sciences Grand Rapids Community College

1. The Development and Implementation of a Summer Camp for High School Students Based on the Applications of Analytical Instrumentation in Forensic Chemistry Jennifer Batten, Ph.D. Department Head of Physical Sciences Grand Rapids Community College

2. The Chemists at GRCC have two passions……. Community Service Instrumentation

3. The Camp Concept The original idea for the camp resulted from: After many years of offering day and week long events for younger students, we wanted to offer more in depth content and hands on experience for older students who wanted to experience real world lab work. We hoped to make a lab experience available to students who may not otherwise have access. We felt that a GC-MS was needed at GRCC to offer our students a complete instrumental experience and using the instrument as part of community outreach is an important part of any NSF-TUES proposal.

4. Guiding Principles The guiding principles of the camp activities included: Hands-on use and theory of analytical instrumentation would be stressed Inquiry based learning would be involved All activities would focus on a common goal Communication and teamwork would be emphasized

5. The Camp Scenario The following scenario was developed for the week long camp: For our camp, we would imagine that there was recently an arson crime in the Grand Rapids area. The Sheriff’s office was seeking help in identifying an arsonist from a pool of five suspects. During the week, evidence recovered from the crime scene and several suspect’s automobiles and homes would be supplied. This evidence would include accelerant soaked wood, DNA, a hand written note, soil and fingerprints. It would be the students task to analyze all of the evidence and make a report to the Sheriff’s Office.

6. Getting Ready- Camp Preparation Getting ready for the Forensic Chemistry Summer Camp required 6 main activities: Advertising and recruiting Selecting, testing and writing experiments Purchasing supplies Hiring high school teachers and GRCC students to assist with the camp Communicating with attendees Working with GRCC Lab support staff on materials needed per day and lab setup

7. Advertising and Recruiting The application was developed with the following items: Camp Description Pictures of the instrumentation Personal information-name, address etc. Photographic and campus roaming releases Campus dining options Essay requirements

8. Advertising and Recruiting The camp was advertised and students were sent the application through several routes: Science teachers in select inner city schools were contacted first with the hope of reaching underserved students. GRCC’s Communications Department later contacted the counselors in GRPS, the Head of Communications in GRPS and the MSTA Region 4 representative.

9. Student Profile 13 Males and 27 Females School Grade: 8th -3, 9th-9, 10th-10, 11th-16, 12th- 2 9 enrolled in GRPS, the others enrolled in outer area public and private schools 37 of the 40 students completed the week long camp Nearly all students expressed a goal for a career in science in their essay Two students were turned away because the camps were full

10. The Legal Stuff There are legal issues in running a summer camp for minors, including: Liability waivers in case of injury Express permission for older minors to leave science building alone Background checks for all adults who will be in contact with minor students Institutional Review Board approval if student data is to be collected

11. Information for Parents Three weeks prior to the camp start date, students and parents were sent the following information: Letter of welcome explaining the dress code, parking, drop/off pick up, meeting place, lunch options, and poster session Campus map with key points highlighted IRB Consent Form and Liability Waiver A camp schedule

12. The Camp Schedule

13. Day 1: Ink Analysis by Paper (PC) and High- Performance Liquid Chromatograpy (HPLC) Objectives: Gain an understanding of polarity and IMFs and their role in chromatographic separations Investigate various solvents for separations and explain the results Analyze ink from a note left at the crime scene using PC and devise a method to determine which pen wrote the note Use HPLC to further investigate the inks http://www.personal.psu.edu/mkm20/111-arson.pdf

14. Day 2: Soil Analysis by Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS) Objectives: Gain an understanding of the interactions between matter and light Practice wet chemistry skills such as extraction, solution preparation and vacuum filtration Use AAS to analyze a mixture with several metals Create calibration curves and determine the concentration of Zn, Fe and Cu in soil samples

15. Data Management

16. Day 3: Accelerant Analysis By Gas Chromatograpy-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) Objectives: Understand the role of accelerants in arson crimes Operate and understand very basic theory of GC-MS Prepare samples for headspace analysis Use MS data to determine which accelerant was used to commit the arson crime Learn how canines assist investigators and scientists in solving crimes Sodeman, D. A., Lillard, S. J. “Who set the fire? Determination of arson accelerants by GC-MS in an instrumental methods course”, Journal of Chemical Education, 78, 9, 2001.

17. Two Very Special Guests Deputy Dale Dekorte from the Kent County Sheriff Department presented information on the use of accelerants in fires and the partnership between investigators and scientists in solving crimes. Deputy Dekorte and his partner, Ritzey, demonstrated how canines are used to collect evidence at potential arson scenes.

18. Day 4: DNA Analysis by Gel Electrophoresis Objectives: Understand how DNA is used to identify criminal suspects Learn the basic theory of gel-electrophoresis Prepare agarose gels and load samples using micro-pipets Set-up and operated gel-electrophoresis equipment Stain and visualize the developed gels and use the information to select a likely suspect

19. Day 5: Fingerprint Analysis Objectives: Understand the basic characteristics of fingerprints Practice dusting, lifting and analyzing fingerprints Match fingerprints to the potential suspects

20. Days 1-5: Poster Preparation Planning for the Poster Session included: Obtaining guest access for the campus Wi-Fi Having an old camera for the students to document their week Setting up a Facebook page to up and download pictures Having laptop computers and a color printer available Purchasing poster boards and other supplies (spray glue, construction paper, glitter etc.) Setting aside time each day for poster planning and preparation and conclusion writing

21. The Final Product- A Poster Session

22. Student Feedback • Iliked using the GC-MS and actually getting to click on everything and see what was in it. We talked about it in my chemistry class a couple years ago, the teacher said well you’re not going to be able to use one until you’re in college. But, I actually got to do it and it was a lot of fun. • Apparently there’s a lot more work in forensics than what’s shown on TV.

23. Parent Feedback • My daughter attended the forensic camp and really enjoyed it. When she researched colleges offering forensic chemistry as a major there were not many to chose from. We were wondering if she would be able to major in something like general chemistry ? • I wanted to thank you for the wonderful learning experience. He really enjoyed learning new skills to solve the problems that were presented, along with making new friends.

24. Camp Costs Camp Supplies – $2000 Many of the materials purchased specifically for this camp can be used again in future years. We estimate that costs for next year will be about $600. Some of the more costly items included gas tight syringes, AAS standards, HPLC solvents, and the purchased DNA kits. Staff- $4980 Each high school teacher was paid $1890 for 70 hours of work. Each GRCC student helper was paid $600 for 60 hours of work.

25. Improvements for 2014 Work to improve the HPLC analysis of the inks Provide suspect profiles Write the scenario as a newspaper article detailing the crime

26. The Team • Bernard Liburd, Ph.D. - Grant Co-PI • Julie Henderleiter, Ph.D.- Grant Evaluator, GVSU • Pam Scott – Lab Coordinator • Leah VanHartesveldt - Lab Assistant • Eric Pilko - Rockford H.S. • Wayne Bickel -Ottawa Hills H.S. • David Greening and Yasmine Walton-Durst- GRCC Student Workers

27. More Information Information including this Power Point Presentation and the Camp Lab Manual with Supply List can be found at: http://grcc.edu/physicalscience

28. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Number DUE 1140509. "Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation."